DOVER — Why anyone would take the eight-legged giant iron spider from the roof of her Second Street home is a mystery to Jean Field, who just wants her beloved ornament returned.

"He's so cute and he's so peppy," she said, describing the rooftop spider that went missing sometime in early August.

Field and her fiance, Charlie Rose, of 24 Second St., purchased the spider at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen fair about six or seven years ago. They took the spider home and he's been perched on the roof of their house above the entryway ever since.

"I miss this thing — it was like a landmark on the street," she said.

Standing about a foot tall and about two feet wide, the spider was well recognized, Field said, and she's had people ask her where the neighborhood arthropod has gone.

Rose said the spider was glued to the roof with a strong glue mixture and that the thieves had to work hard at removing it without disturbing any shingles.

"He wasn't going anywhere by himself," he said of the spider Field described as "spunky."

Field said its because of the care she and Rose took in fixing the spider to the roof that they are sure he didn't simply fall off. That, and his non-threatening presence.

"He was very welcoming," she said.

Field said she reported the spider missing to police on Aug. 8 and has been hopeful since then of its return.

"I could understand wanting him, there'd be no questions asked," she said and added that she doesn't want anyone to get in trouble for its disappearance, she just wants the item back.